Plum Creek mills, land to remain open

Timber products giant Weyerhaeuser will keep Plum Creek’s lumber mills open in Montana and plans to retain Plum Creek’s long-standing public access policies, if an expected merger of the two companies is completed.

Tom Ray, Plum Creek’s vice president of Northwest Resources and Manufacturing, said Friday the merger would not immediately affect any manufacturing jobs in the state, but some of the company’s administrative jobs would head to Weyerhaeuser’s Seattle headquarters.

“If the merger is approved today, when the transition is complete to Weyerhaeuser, on day one there will be no changes to manufacturing,” Ray said, but added, “there will be some transition that will happen in the corporate jobs here.”

Those jobs include accounting, human resources and information-technology positions, but Ray declined to say how many would be leaving the state.

Of the approximately 750 Plum Creek employees in Montana, Ray said the “vast majority” are manufacturing jobs.

The bulk of its employees work in Columbia Falls, with an annual payroll of about $60 million. Plum Creek also has a lumber operation in Evergreen.

Weyerhaeuser has about 12,800 employees worldwide and had $7.4 billion in sales in 2014.

Ray said he has not been offered a position with Weyerhaeuser but will remain on the job through the transition.

Weyerhaeuser officials have declined to comment on the merger or any possible change in policy when and if it becomes official.

“The merger has yet to close and as such, there are a lot of decisions still to be made,” company spokesman Anthony Chavez wrote in an email Friday. “Therefore, we do not have any specific details to share at this time.”

The two companies announced the proposed merger last November. It would create the world’s largest timber company, with more than 13 million acres of timberland and an expected equity value of $23 billion.

According to its website, Plum Creek owns 888,000 acres of land in Montana, most of it in the northwestern corner of the state.

Plum Creek’s announcement about land access puts to rest concerns by many hunters and other recreationists who for decades have taken advantage of the company’s generous public access policies.

Plum Creek allows hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking and camping on its timber land. It is managed by Fish, Wildlife & Parks under the state’s block management program. However, Weyerhaeuser’s lands elsewhere in the country require paid permits to access and use.

Based on use studies from several years ago, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks estimates that Plum Creek lands attract 70,000 to 80,000 hunter-days each year, not including other recreational uses.

Shareholders for both companites voted Friday to approve the merger. The two companies’ boards of directors already approved it last year.

Plum Creek officials have said the deal could become finalized as soon as next month.

A news release from Gov. Steve Bullock’s office commended Weyerhaeuser for keeping the Montana mills running and private timberlands open to public access.

“I am disappointed in Weyerhaeuser’s decision to relocate some accounting, human resources, and IT jobs to the company’s corporate headquarters as a result of its merger with Plum Creek, but I am tremendously pleased that hundreds of jobs in Montana’s timber industry will remain in the state,” Bullock said in the news release.